AEW Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa could be stripped of her championship this week, after reports of her injury recovery rate looking bleaker than first thought. The Mexican star hasn’t wrestled since August and last defended her title against Jamie Hayter at Battle of the Belts that month.
However, she suffered an injury in her next match on AEW Dark due to injury. It didn’t seem like a bad injury and the hope was she wouldn’t miss much time off. Instead of being stripped of the belt, an interim champion was crowned instead in Toni Storm, with the view for a unification match down the line, a la Jon Moxley vs CM Punk.
However, as of today, Thunder Rosa has yet to return from injury. According to reports her injury could be worse than feared and she is likely to be out for the rest of the year. Toni Storm has previously displayed displeasure over her being crowned only “interim” champion, and it’s looking like she could be made the full champ according to recent comments by Tony Khan.
When asked about potentially stripping Thunder Rosa of her championship, Khan indicated that it was something under consideration and a lineal champion would have to be crowned sooner rather than later. On the AEW Full Gear 2022 pre-show media call, the AEW President said;
““Yes, it’s something we have considered. And it’s something to consider. I’m still weighing the pros and cons. Thunder Rosa’s a great wrestler, and it’s unfortunate that she’s injured. And it’s kept her out a long time, but t’s not an easy situation. And I try to take everything on a case-by-case basis, and am trying to give Thunder Rosa every opportunity to come back and defend the championship. But eventually, you would have to crown a lineal champion, to your point.”
Toni Storm will defend her AEW Women’s Championship (Interim or not) against Jamie Hayter at Full Gear 2022.